Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Review

When the Sony PlayStation Portable (known from here on out as the PSP) was first announced in May of 2004, gaming enthusiasts began clamoring for information on this state of the art handheld gaming console. Even though this device was originally released only in Japan (December 12, 2004), that didn’t stop people here in the US from importing this highly coveted gadget at crazy inflated prices to keep from waiting till it would be available state side. Could you blame them, this thing is hot! Way more exciting than the earlier launch of the Nintendo DS. Lucky for me, I had Brando! He went above and beyond the call of duty to help me get my hands on one of these terrific game machines. Thanks Brando!

On the day I received the PSP from Brando, I was super excited. Unfortunately, I soon realized that I wasn’t going to be able to actually play with my new toy right away. Why? Well, because it didn’t come with a game disc. It did come with a demo disc, but all it did was just mock me by showing trailers for several cool games available or soon to be available for this console. I went searching for sites that had games available and found thatGeekStuff4U could send me 2 titles to try out. Yay! But I would have to wait a week or so before getting them. Boo!

After the long and painful waiting period, the games arrived and I was ready put this bad boy through its paces! And what a bad boy it is. Right out of the box, it is a wonder to behold. Much like a product from Apple, Sony knows how to make consumer electronics that look gorgeous. People aren’t going to be happy when I say that the Nintendo DS is a hunk of junk looks-wise when you compare it to the PSP.

Rectangular with rounded outer edges, this unit is designed to be held comfortably between your two hands. That said, the PSP has a definite heft to it. Playing while laying on your back with the device raised above you, may quickly result in fatigue. Besides being a little heavy, this is a large device. Like the Nintendo DS, you are not going to carry it around in your pocket. Transport via backpack or gear bag is fine though.

People have been reporting that the PSP is somewhat fragile feeling. That twisting the unit while a UMD is inserted can sometimes cause the disc to eject and fly out. I had to perform the requisite Gadgeteer creak test to see for myself. First I shook the unit and did notice that the power button rattles a bit. Otherwise, the unit is solid with respect to rattles. As for the creak test, no amount of light twisting would cause the UMD in my PSP to eject of its own accord. I did notice that the door to the UMD cavity was prone to minimal flexing though due to being made of relatively thin plastic.

In my opinion, the PSP doesn’t seem to be a toy that you would give to a child. For one thing, it is quite a bit more sophisticated in both hardware design and games than the Game Boy series. This is an expensive device that while solidly made, may only be rugged enough to give to an older child that can truly respect their toys.

Back to the hardware tour… The front of the PSP looks like it has been carved out of one piece of solid black Lucite. Like theSony HMP-A1, the design looks very sexy, but with the slick surface, it very prone to smears and fingers prints.

This device has more buttons than any handheld gaming device that I’ve ever seen. There are 4 thumb accessible buttons on each side. The left 4 buttons are for navigation, while the right 4 buttons are the standard PlayStation menu interaction buttons. Seven small buttons along the bottom edge of the PSP give you access to Home, Volume up/down, Display brightness, Sound toggle, Select and Start. The directional and menu buttons are all good sized and easy to press. They have enough tactile feedback so that you know when you’ve pressed one. The directional buttons are angled so that your thumb will not easily slide off when you’re moving from button to button at a quick pace. The other buttons are pretty small and a little difficult to press. Especially the tonight volume and brightness buttons. There’s another button on the front of the PSP that I actually missed at first. I thought it was a speaker grill! Yes, I’m blind… Under the directional buttons is an actual analog joystick. This stick is spring loaded with a serrated thumb pad to prevent slippage. It works really well in games like Ridge Racer.

The display on the PSP is large and g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. It has to be the largest handheld gaming console screen to date. At 4.3 inches diagonally, it’s even bigger than my HP HX4700 iPAQ! Being able to comfortably see all the action on the screen without having to squint is great! This is the first gaming device that has actually given me the same feeling that I get when playing games on a large TV screen. You know the feeling you get when you’re playing a racing game and you go into a spin and you almost can feel the spin. I’ve never felt that way with a Game Boy or other handheld device. I do feel it with the PSP, and I like it!

The colors are vivid, and graphics are crisp. Depending on the game, you do notice some jaggies here and there though. That said, I didn’t notice any ghost or other annoying screen behaviors. The screen is evenly lit and the three brightness settings allow you to adjust the screen to your liking. I always run mine on the middle setting which is more than bright enough in any environment. I should also mention that my unit has no dead pixels which is excellent as I have read that some people have found some on theirs.

Located on the top of PSP are status LEDs for Power / Charging, WiFi and Memory Stick Duo activity.

On the left side of the device is the WiFi switch, and on the right side is the Power / Hold switch. The Power switch is spring loaded. You have to slide and hold it up for a few seconds to toggle power. If you just quickly slide the Power switch up and let go, it will cause the unit to go into sleep mode so that you can quickly restart a game at a later time. If you slide the Power switch down, it will lock into the Hold position.

Along the bottom edge of the PSP, you’ll find the AC adapter connector (yellow), the headphone / remote connector, and lanyard connection point. Included with the PSP are a set of earbud and a remote control. These come in handy when you want to listen to music (MP3s) on your device. More on that in a minute…

The top edge of the PSP has two clear shoulder buttons, the IR port, mini USB port and UMD compartment latch. The UMD latch is a slider switch that opens the disc compartment. Think of it as an eject button. When you open it, the disc springs out of the compartment just enough so that you can grab the edge and pull it out. When you insert the disc, you have to press it down into the holder in the door so that it snaps in place.

The UMDs are small little 1.8GB capacity discs enclosed in a plastic caddy. A square window in the caddy allows the PSP to read the data from the disc as it spins. The problem is that this window is always open. It doesn’t have any type of spring loaded cover. Dirt, dust and even finger prints can easily wreck a UMD if you aren’t really careful while handling them. This is another reason why the PSP is not a good system for children. The actual UMD games come in a large plastic DVD like case that won’t be very convenient to carry around even in a gear bag. I’m sure there will probably be UMD carrying case accessories out in the near future (I hope).

The UMD is a spinning drive. As such, it makes a noise during disc access. The noise isn’t loud, but it is noticeable. The sound that the UMD makes while it is spinning sounds like something shuffling. The PSP doesn’t vibrate during access, so that’s good.

The back of the PSP has the battery compartment and Memory Stick Duo slot. Included with the PSP is a 32mb MS Duo card. You can copy music, pictures, video and games to the memory card and let the PSP play them for you. This expands the PSP into a media player in addition to just a gaming console. If you don’t have a card reader that can read the small format Duo, you can just plug in a USB cable with a mini connector into the PSP and then into your PC. It will mount the card as removable drive. My PSP didn’t come with a mini USB cable, but I found one for another gadget and found that it worked just fine. I did discover that you have to format the Duo before you start copying files from your PC. Why? Well, if you don’t, the special hierarchy of folders that the PSP looks for won’t be there and it will not know that you have music or other media available to it. There is an option in the PSP menu to format the stick. Once you do that, you’re good to go.

Memory Stick Duo Slot

I should talk a little about battery life as that is one of the major concerns / complaints about this device so far. According to Sony, the PSP should be able to play games for 4-5 hrs at a time as long as you’re not using WiFi. Now, all I can tell you is my own experiences as I haven’t done any scientific battery tests… I’ve played Ridge Racers 10 mins here and 20 mins there several times throughout the week on only one battery charge. As for total play time on one charge, it’s hard to say. Maybe 3 hrs or so? I’ve never been one to just sit down and play games for hours at a time. I’m more of a pick it up, play for a bit then sit it back down kind of gamer. That might change if I had some more engrossing type of games. Right now I just have Ridge Racers and a golf game that is too difficult to really figure out since I do not understand Kanji. Now if I had a really cool RPG, I bet I could get sucked into playing a game for 1-2 hrs at one sitting. So, for right now I am not going to complain about the battery life. For me it is working out great so far. I can see how it would not be great for travelers or people away from a power outlet. I should also mention that battery life will depend on how often the PSP has to access the UMD for info. It’s easy to understand that the more it has to spin up the disc, the lower your battery life is going to be. Here’s also hoping that extended batteries will be an available accessory in the very near future.

Regarding the PSP hardware, it’s just plain lovely. This device is both sexy to look at and hold. I don’t know how Sony is getting away with only charging ~$250. I mean, their later model CLIÉ PDAs were up to $700 or so! If I had to change anything about the hardware, I would maybe add a hard drive so that it could be a REAL media player in addition to gaming device.

The main interface is simple and easy to figure out even without reading a manual or user guide. Good thing because the manual I received was all in Japanese. The first time you power on the PSP, you are given the ability to choose a language. Japanese, English, German, Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, and Portuguese are the available choices.

Basically you have 5 main functions across the screen. The main functions are Settings, Photo, Music, Video and Game. As you use the left and right directional buttons to scroll through these functions, sub functions appear below the main heading.

Main interface screen

The settings function gives you access to all the main settings for video, photo, music, WiFi etc. This is also the menu that you use to format the Memory Stick Duo, set the time / date, password protect the device and even implement a parental lock based on game ratings.

Setting up WiFi was a snap. I basically just allowed it to use all the defaults. I didn’t even tell it the name of my wireless network (SSID) and it connected just fine. I couldn’t do a darn thing, but hey, I could connect. Oh, I was able to have the PSP check with Sony to see if there was a software update. It didn’t find one, but it checked ;o) It’s really a shame that a simple web browser wasn’t included as part of the feature set.

The Photo function allows you to view images that are stored on the Memory Stick Duo. Sorry, you can only view .JPG files. .GIF, and .BMPs are not supported. Small thumbnails of the pictures are displayed so that you can easily scroll through them. When you find one that you want to view full screen, you select it.

You can also view all the images in a slideshow if desired.

The Music function turns your PSP into a digital audio player capable of playing Sony’s own ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus files as well as good old MP3s. Yay!

The included ear buds and remote look like they come from the land of iPod.

In Video mode, you can play movies and video clips. Unfortunately, the only supported format is MPEG4. You have to jump through some hoops in order to convert regular .mpg files to .mp4, but once you do it’s a lot of fun to watch movies on this device. You can even use the wired remote to control video playback.

Of course the main reason to buy the PSP is to play games right? Well, I have to say that the games are great! Yeah, I only have one that I really like – Ridge Racers, but even though I don’t really like the Mini Golf game all that well, it still looks fantastic.

Ridge Racers

Mini Golf

The only thing I don’t like about using UMDs for games is that you have to load them into memory. If you’re loading a game from scratch, the PSP screen will blank (turn completely black) for up to 15 seconds or so. The first time this happened, I was wondering if it had died on me or something. Kids might get impatient having to wait for a game to load. Adults probably wont mind as much. The wait is worth it actually.

Note: another use for the Memory Stick Duo is for saved games.

Ok, so what is the bottom line? Pretty much that I love this thing and everyone should buy one. No seriously, I do reallllllly like the Sony PSP. I don’t say that lightly given the fact that I only have 1 game that I’m playing so far. There’s just something about this device that makes me want to pick it up every time I walk by it. Yeah it’s pretty, but the games are fun. More fun than any handheld gaming device I’ve owned so far. But there are some big gotchas that go along with my praise. One gotcha is battery life. But maybe the biggest gotcha is just how viable is the PSP in the current handheld game console arean? Even though a device is ‘better’ than another device as far as hardware and features, it always comes down to the games. Will the PSP come out with some excellent games that make this the device to buy? That’s very hard to predict. I don’t feel too confident given the fact that I’ve been here before. I was in love with the Atari Lynx way back when. It was an excellent handheld gaming console. Better sound, better graphics than the Game Boy… but it failed because the Game Boy was already very well established with 100’s and 100’s of games. Will the same thing happen with the PSP? Very possibly. Even probably. I sure hope not though! I have my fingers crossed that this device will enjoy a long life. For those of you considering a handheld game console purchase, in a few months when you go to your electronics store to choose between a Nintendo DS and a Sony PSP, I sure hope you choose the PSP!

Price:$249

Pros: Gorgeous hardware Gorgeous screen Games feel like full size console games Photo, Video and Music features

Cons: Short battery life Not available in the US yet Fingerprint magnet

The nice thing is that you don’t have to convert your MP3’s to the horrible ATRAC format. Sony has finally realized that they made a mistake with ATRAC…and it’s the main reason why I stopped using my MiniDisc player and switched to the iPod.

Of course, OGG Vorbis support would be nice, but I ain’t holding my breath.

Julie: I have the PSP (I got it from Japan) and I don’t think you mentioned that you actually need some additional software to convert MP3 and video files so that it will play on the PSP. Maybe I missed that from your review.

I mentioned that you had to ‘jump through some hoops’ to convert .mpg to .mp4. I didn’t go into any specific details or link to any tutorials. I found out how to do this by just googling on PSP and MPEG4.

So, how are you liking your PSP? Which games do you have? I need some more!

I got mine on Monday and have to say that Nintendo should be really worried about this! I’ve also got a DS with Ridge Racer and that looks OK but nothing special, like a playstation 1 game. The PSP playing Ridge Racers looks just like a PS2 in the palm of your hand!

One thing I didn’t see in the review was about the sound – through headphones it’s really good (try Lumines for an interesting puzzle game with excellent music) but the external speakers are rather tinny, especially compared to the DS. At first glance it looks like the speaker runs along the top of the screen, but the are actually the two small holes along the bottom edge – I think the idea is to use your cupped hands as sound amplifiers when you’re holding the PSP, but the effect isn’t that good.

Julie, I think the golf game you have is Minna No Golf, aka Hot Shots Golf/Everybody’s Golf depending on your region. There’s a menu translation here at gamefaqs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/game/920797.html – it should make things a bit easier to decipher!

Also, if you fancy exercising your brain a little, there’s a beginner’s guide to Japanese here: http://www.ntsc-uk.com/tech.php?tech=GuideToJapanese – it’s a games site so has translations of the common gaming terms e.g. start, save/load, etc. plus shows you how to do basic translations yourself.

Yeah, I’ll second Lumines. It’s seems to be a simple ‘Tetris-like’ game, but with only 2 colors. And the music is fantastic. It’s from the a small development house run by the creator of Rez on the PS2. If you like puzzle games, then you’ll like this one.

As far as conversion software, I’m using iPSP on the Mac and it’s great – I’ve used it for TV shows and fansubbed anime. iPSP lets you queue up a bunch of video files for processing overnight. As far as a Windows counterpart, check the folks at either Engadget.com or gaming-age.com (they have an official thread discussing it) forums for video encoding tips.

PSP Unit
3 PSP Launch Titles (no details on which games you can choose from)
1 Accessory (no details on what accessories you can choose from)

It is slated to ship on 3/29/05, and they claim that you will be e-mailed when you can pick your titles. They also claim if you want to cancel you must do so prior to 3/19 as all charges will be applied at that time.

I put my reservation in. I figure if I decide I do not want it, I have a month and a half to cancel. However, if I do want decide I really want it, my reservation is in early and I will probably get in on the first shipment.

Depending on the final price point of the unit and the games it may or may not be.

However, they do have a disclaimer stating that the price is not finalized.

From their site:

Dates and prices have not been confirmed and are subject to change. Actual price for this bundle may be higher or lower. If the price is higher, you will be charged the higher price. If the price is lower, you will be charged the lower price.

You will receive an e-mail confirming dates, prices and the process for choosing your three games once this information is available.

As it stands (after talking to my local EBGames store):

PSP – $250 (as listed in their system for a single unit)
3 Games – $150 (current prices are $49.99 a game)
Accessory – $10-20 (Unknown what accessories will be selectable)

Total – $410 to 420.

So again, I figure this gets my name on a list. If the price of the PSP is $200 or less and the three free games are the $39.99 budget-type titles and it stays at $400, I am out.

But if it changes in my favor, at least I will have one at launch.

Maybe I should add my story for the ‘Featured Gadgeteer’. I’m crazy like that.

I recently recieved my PSP and have owned a Nintendo DS for a month now. I just feel obligated to say a few things. First of all, I have been reading your site for about 6 months now and love your reviews. So, when I get to saying the negative things, try to realize that I’m still a huge fan of your writing and complete, interesting, and very helpful reviews.

Moving right along, your Nintendo DS review mentions not seeing Game Boy written anywhere on the system. Of course not! Nintendo has officially stated that the DS is in NO WAY related to the Game Boy line. They will continue making future releases of Game Boys as well as continuations of the DS line, which is a new line they are starting. Also, contrary to rumors passing around, Nintendo will NOT be leaving the console market, as can be read here:http://cube.ign.com/articles/383/383515p1.html

Keep in mind that I’m not the biggetst Nintendo fan around. I own a PS2 and do NOT own a Game Cube. (Heh, I really like capitalizing “not” don’t I?) I do own a GB and GBA, though, and as stated before I own a PSP and DS. In playing those two “next-generation” handhelds, I’m sorry to say but I completely disagree with you. I much prefer the DS, and I’ll tell you why.

At the moment, the game selection is by far the best. Also, since it is backwards compatible with the GBA, we already have that huge library at our fingertips. I don’t care if I can play the old GB games or not, this isn’t a Game Boy. I’m happy enough with the GBA games, but more importantly, the DS games are amazing. Metroid Hunters is absolutely beautiful, and the touchscreen implementation is excellent. Precision aiming and movement are something I feel they could have only achieved with such a device. On top of that, Feel the Magic is a touchscreen designed game, and pulls off the quirky and intenseivly original games very well.

I am very near the Vicarious Visions headquarters here in upstate New York, and my University has supplied them with many programmers. A friend and alumni now works for them and is helping to program for the DS. Right now his work on the new Spiderman game has him bouncing around with excitement. The developers love this new system and its innovative ideas. (When developers are having fun with a system, only good things can come from that…) Picture Venom on the lower touchscreen with the ability to grab his tentacles and use them to pick up cars and smash them onto enemies, while simultaneously and intuitively being able to control Spiderman on the upper screen. This may seem gimmicky, but it’s so well implemented and only possible on the DS that I couldn’t have more fun. I highly reccommend picking it up when it is officially released.

Also, the extra features have been very useful. I have configured it to browse the internet, I can chat across the room with my friends during class with the lectures are getting boring or repetitive. (Don’t worry, I’m maintaing my 3.8 GPA ) Also, there is no load time, the cartridges are smaller AND less delicate, and lefties are fully supported (like me!). You can use the four buttons on the right side as a control pad and hold the stylus in the left-hand for stylus portions of games. Also, for long RPG’s, I can play for 8 or more hours without recharging. (Of course, not in one go! Just nice when you have a lot of classes with breaks in the middle that last a few hours, and you’ve finished your work. So, you play your DS without having to go home and recharge. Also, movies can be watched in their entirety.) Also, I’ll say it again, not enough good games for the PSP yet! Although, I am looking forward to Grand Theft Auto. It’s the only open-ened, free choice game I’ve played, and it will be nice to have a good version of that on a handheld. Are there other, less violent games like this? I would like to know…

One last thing:

aybara wrote:

PSP – $250 (as listed in their system for a single unit)
3 Games – $150 (current prices are $49.99 a game)
Accessory – $10-20 (Unknown what accessories will be selectable)

The DS is only $150, so that’s a $100 dollar savings for what I also believe is a better system. Also, I feel it is more durable and will last longer, and the clamshell design protects the screen. That’s a better value.

Oh well, that’s all just my opinion. Everyone has different tastes, so I don’t mean to say your wrong or anything like that. I’m just wanting people to see the other side of the coin, you know? Once again, excellent site, excellent reviews. I hope my post helped at least a little bit, though. Keep being amazingly wonderful you two (and sometimes three :D)!

Don’t get me wrong sayret, I do own a DS and a GBA SP. There are several games for the DS I am eagerly awaiting too. I also own a Cube, and currently Resident Evil 4 is probably one of the best for the system.

I’m glad you’re liking your DS. However, you failed to say anything about your new PSP? Do you like it at all?

Sorry, I was just focusing on the DS. I did realize that I hadn’t said much about my PSP, but I figured I had already written quite enough for a forum post :D.

I haven’t put much playtime into my PSP mostly because I am waiting for some of the games to finally reach their release date, but so far Ridge Racer has kept my attention. I agree that it gives an excellent “in car” feeling, and I’m really liking the little analog controller. I was always hoping they would add one to a handheld, and Sony delivered. The wide screen is sharp, clear, and very sexy, but I’m desperately afraid of scratching it. I wish there was a little slipcase for it or something. I’m sure the 3rd parties will jump at that opportunity soon. So, as I said I’m waiting for better games before I’ll decide whether it’s something I’ll keep (which I most likely will). Also, maybe a better battery? That hasn’t been TOO much trouble yet, though. I wouldn’t take it on a long car trip, but it’s good to keep around the house or take to class.

Didn’t yours come with a neoprene slip case? There are some leather cases available already. Brando sells one as does PDAsia. As for screen protectors, Brando tells me that has them ready and I think he is sending me a few to test out.

Great review Julie, and nice pics. Personally, I can’t wait for this machine to be released. I have mine pre-ordered with ebgames (store, not online) along with a copy of Ridge Racers. I own the DS also, and the system is good. The games on the other hand don’t interest me. I plan on using the PSP to play games and as an mp3 player.

I’m waiting for it to be released here too, if only so that English games might be readily available. I’m getting a little bored of playing Ridge Racers all the time. Don’t get me wrong though, it is a GREAT game!

I’m waiting for it to be released here too, if only so that English games might be readily available. I’m getting a little bored of playing Ridge Racers all the time. Don’t get me wrong though, it is a GREAT game!

I can understand that :bored: . I am looking into the Dynasty Warriors game. Looks interesting plus I like strategy. I believe there is only one RPG coming out for it, Untold Legends. I haven’t read the review for it yet though.

I have just got my hands on a brand new Sony PSP, and to be honest, it is by far THE best handeld I have ever had the fortune to lay my hands on. The graphics are AMAZING, I mean, the reflections in your car in the game Ridge Racers are great for a start! you don’t get reflections in the PS2 version…..
It’s great as an MP3 player…I just plug it into my car stereo, and boom…..with the help of my 1GB memory stick Duo Pro, I have a 1GB MP3 player through my car amps :wow: !! The movie quality is great – again, with the 1GB memory stick Duo, I can get an entire DVD on there for portable viewing (takes a while to encode tho :wacko: )
as for battery life – I managed to get 5 hours of non stop gaming action before a recharge was required :blink: . I would give this handheld console an 11/10 rating!!
If you don’t have one, GET ONE

BTW, I didn’t think the DS had interne capability because the wireless is some proprietry format?? I know the PSP contains wifi (would be great if the PSP supports IR/foldup mini usb keyboards) so, when a rom update with a webrowser (which I believe is in the works) will let you use internet. Would be great for surfing the net when you don’t need much text entry!!!! Take some time to setup some favourites and your laughing! Would be great to stream the MP4 videos off a PC too!

I can’t wait to get mine.

**And the game I meant (and probably limetime10 too) is Metal Gear Acid.

I need to make a trip to Circuit City tomorrow and see what games are available. I need some English games

Here here! I am waiting to get a bit more money together to get myself another game (going to wait for GTA) and a 512Mb MS Duo (sandisk/lexar/sony/whatever) off ebay. Nothing at all available here in Australia. Gotta love ebay!! Unfortunately, the total cost once i am done will be about AU$575 on console (w/ Ridge racers), extra game and 512Mb ms duo

* Australian prices are always ridiculously high
* The MS Duo is over $200 for the 1Gb version
* I can’t wait that long!!

I have two 1Gb SDs for my Mini, one of which is used rarely, and less now because I will prefer to watch movies on trips on the PSP. I may ebay it, and get another 512Mb Duo. ATM, a 1Gb SD sells for just a tad more than a 512Mb MS Duo, the same in a few cases.

It depends: If the email you got contained what Julie or I consider to be SPAM, like “Get your Free PSP here, I just did!!!” with a link to their referral number at some site – then it will most likely be gone by the time you click back into the forum. Otherwise, all posts should be here. :0)

Great review. I’ve been looking for the PSP after seeing some of the ingame videos of Wipeout and Ridge Racer on Gamespot. It’s always been sold out though Anyways, I’ve read through the thread and there’s something that’s very odd:

sayret wrote:

I have configured it to browse the internet

The Nintendo DS does use 802.11(b), just like the PSP, however out of the box it does not implement the TCP/IP protocol stack and it’s “proprietary protocol” is not routable over the internet.

Does anybody know a good webstore that has the PSP in stock and pref not in a bundle or in a bundle where you choose the games yourself.

The only stock I’ve seen so far has a bundle with games I’m not after

TIA

The only online stores that sell them without a bundle are toys r us and bestbuy.com. I know toys r us is out of stock, not sure about best buy online.

Also, for anyone looking for a 1 GB MS I suggest you put down an order at ebgames.com (yeah they are on backorder but this will secure yours once it comes in). They seem to be the only place that has actually gotten the 1 gig MS duos in stock (yellow ones. blue ones are sold out everywhere too). I was lucky enough to get mine two days before the psp launch.

I am interested in buying a PSP since its 300$(with no games or anything.. can prolly get a bundle with wayne gretzky game for 340 but i dont really like that game) since i live in Canada i would like to know what are the main pros and cons(yeah i know you are all fans but would like to get accurate cons) like ive heard problems with death pixels, the umd disc ect…
I would also like more info about the multiplayer option, how does it work… do you need to be with a person that has a PSP or you can plug it on your modem…
What are the best games?

anyway i would like to get any useful infos (should i wait for the next generation?)

Regarding dead pixels, its the luck of the draw. I have read sony will replace it, but don’t hold me to it. My screen is perfect. Absolutely awesome. MAKE SURE YOU GET A CASE!! ITS SCRATCHES SOOOOO EASILY.

Here are some pics of the update process. You need the power plugged in to do it, and a Memory stick (my update from v1.0 to v1.5 Japanese PSP was 14Mb).

darn, you had one of the RARE Jap 1.0 versions.. you could have used the hacks out on the newsgroups to play the RAW ISO’s! Now you upgraded to 1.5 which is locked from playing the ISO’s from the DUO..

Con’s:
Needs a harddrive.
Memory sizes to small to fully utilize the ablities of the device.
Doesn’t come with conversion software to put video’s on the device. ($19.95 additional charge from Sony or $49.95 for a better version of a media manager.)
UMD to slow for gameplay.. Spend most of your time waiting for zone’s/areas to load.
Movies to expensive. (UMD’s can only be used here.. No where else. DVD’s can be used anywhere.)
Can’t hookup to a TV.

Personally as a reflect back on my purchase.. I would have much rather spent the money on something else and I’m looking to sell mine off. This device has to many limitation to use this to it’s full potential

ive got two of them psp’s at home and the family are mad over the psp even the new psp go which i dont like much because sony have done away with the psp’s umd so it means you have to download everything. i guess it was sony’s way to tackle the iphone or ipod dominance in the marketplace

have to admit that the psp is still a favorate and love playing need for speed genre on long journeys, the nintendo ds is a good console but i prefer the accesabilty of a psp.as for the speakers one of your comments well you can purchase the sub woofer for a psp which with a internet connection to the raido stations or winamp player sounds fantastic

as for the flash update on you tube, what is the whole point, simply use your memory card and save the videos as mp4 and use sites like vix.com

The Cargo Works MacBook 13" EDC Kit is a black canvas zippered gear bag that has been designed to hold the 13" MacBook or similarly sized notebooks and associated gear. Stay tuned for my full review which is coming soon.